Grocery and OTC delivery on Uber Health
Uber Health’s goal is to reduce barriers to care and offer a more connected care journey. We’re doing that through prescription delivery, rides, and healthy food delivery for those who need it most—all through a single platform.
Coordinators can now order grocery and OTC items on behalf of patients and members. Uber Health taps into Uber Eats’ existing infrastructure and nationwide community of grocery and convenience merchants, unlocking the value of food as medicine on a national scale.
Frequently asked questions
- What is grocery and OTC delivery on Uber Health?
Grocery and OTC delivery on Uber Health is powered by the Uber Eats delivery platform. It enables coordinators to order and pay for items on behalf of their patients or members through the Uber Health dashboard. Coordinators can save and retrieve an individual's dietary preferences, view past orders, choose to deliver on demand or schedule ahead, and track in-progress orders in the Uber Health dashboard.
Recipients receive text or phone call notifications about their orders, and they don’t need to have the Uber Eats or Uber app.
- What types of merchants and items are available?
Delivery will be available from local grocery stores, convenience stores, and pharmacies that are on the Uber Eats marketplace, including 7-Eleven, Albertsons, CVS, Costco, Meijer, Rite Aid, Safeway, Target, Walgreens, and Winn-Dixie (in available zip codes). In addition to grocery and over-the-counter items, customers can order prepared meals if available in their local grocery store of choice.
- How is this different from Uber Eats?
While it’s powered by Uber Eats, grocery and OTC delivery on Uber Health is specifically designed for healthcare. The available options are tailored to showcase produce and daily pantry-items, and don’t include restaurants at this time. In the future, grocery and OTC delivery will also enable coordinators to use existing OTC and grocery benefits to pay for these deliveries.
Grocery and OTC delivery on Uber Health is built for coordinators to make and pay for delivery requests on behalf of people who might not be able to request it for themselves in the Uber Eats app. The service also makes it easy to track deliveries at the user level. For example, coordinators will be alerted if the delivery has an issue, so they can close further gaps in care.
- Who are the couriers?
Delivery on Uber Health leverages couriers who have signed up to deliver with Uber Eats. Before anyone drives or delivers with Uber, they must undergo a multistep safety screen.
Depending on the store, either the courier or the merchant will shop for the items ordered.
- Where is this available?
Grocery delivery on Uber Health is available wherever grocery delivery on Uber Eats is available in the United States. Check out UberEats.com to get a sense of what you’ll find locally. An Uber Health representative can work with you on specifics for your area during the implementation process.
- What items can be ordered?
The availability of items depends on the merchant, but some common items include:
- Grocery: Produce, dairy, grains, meats
- Pharmacy/convenience store: Bandages, OTC meds (like Tylenol and Neosporin), vitamins, items for current or expecting parents such as diapers
At this time, coordinators can’t order from restaurants, but if an available grocery merchant offers prepared meals, those will be available for purchase.
Some restricted items such as alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis are not available for purchase through grocery delivery on Uber Health. The system will not let users check out with these in the cart.
- How does a coordinator select items?
Coordinators can choose from recommended collections of healthy foods, searching for specific items or stores or selecting an available store. From there, coordinators choose individual items to add them to a cart.
A cart may only contain items from a single store, but coordinators may create multiple carts for a given recipient.
- When do deliveries take place?
Grocery and OTC delivery on Uber Health is available 24/7 but depends on individual store operating hours and courier availability for on-demand orders.
Delivery can be made on demand or scheduled up to 7 days in advance, with delivery windows in 30-minute increments.
Coordinators can view and easily reorder items for saved members, but ongoing/recurring orders are currently not supported. When reordering a past order, the coordinator can view the past order and add each of the items from that order.
- Do recipients need to be home to be notified of the delivery?
When the order is placed, recipients will receive a text with a link to track the order on mobile web (without the need to have the Uber or Uber Eats app installed).
Uber Health offers 3 types of delivery options for each order:
- Leave at door: The courier will leave the items at the front door
- Meet outside: The recipient should meet the courier at the curb
- Meet at door: The recipient should meet the courier at their front door
If the “Leave at door” option is selected, the recipient does not need to be home—but we encourage food safety recommendations at all times. Groceries are not guaranteed fresh or safe to eat if left outside for extended periods. Some OTC orders will require recipients to be at home and meet the driver at the door to show ID.
- What happens if there’s a problem with the delivery?
The Uber Health dashboard’s “Attention needed” section will alert the coordinator that intervention is necessary if there’s an issue with the delivery.
If an item becomes unavailable during shopping or the shopper cannot find it, Uber will automatically substitute it with the best-matched item. Coordinators can choose to have items refunded instead of replaced while shopping.
Coordinators can chat with and call the courier throughout shopping and delivery. The recipient will also receive a text with an option to contact the courier with an anonymized phone number.
In addition, coordinators can always contact Uber Health support.
- How do I access grocery and OTC delivery in my dashboard?
Grocery and OTC delivery requires an Uber Health representative to set it up on your account. Fill out this form and we’ll get you started.
Once this service is enabled, you can request delivery under “Create new” or directly from a member’s profile page.
- How much does it cost? Are there delivery fees?
Merchants set the cost of their items, and the cost displayed in the Uber Health dashboard will match what’s displayed on Uber Eats. Orders are subject to delivery fees, which vary depending on a few factors, including distance from the merchant and courier availability. Coordinators will be able to tip after the delivery is completed (tipping is common with delivery on Uber Eats, and the courier keeps 100% of their tips).
The organization pays for items, fees, and tips through the standard Uber Health billing process. In the future, organizations will be able to use grocery and OTC benefits.
- Can we set up recurring orders?
Coordinators can view and easily reorder items for saved members, but ongoing or recurring orders are currently not supported. When reordering a past order, the coordinator can view the past order and add each of the items from that order.
- Is this service available in the Uber Health API?
Grocery and OTC delivery is available only on the Uber Health web-based dashboard today. We’re exploring opportunities for the API in the future and would love to know if you’re interested. Let us know when you contact us
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